HAPPY NEW YEAR! A LOOK BACK AT 2023HAPPY NEW YEAR! A LOOK BACK AT 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR! A LOOK BACK AT 2023

Best of 2023 Video

San José State Athletics wishes #AllSpartans a very happy new year. As we enter 2024, SJSU takes a look back at some of the top moments of 2023 and celebrates the Charge of the Spartans!!!

2023 San José State Athletics Accomplishments

  • Opened new state-of-the-art Spartan Athletics Center (news story)
  • Baseball won its first Mountain West regular season and tournament championships, while men’s water polo captured the inaugural West Coast Conference tournament championship.
  • SJSU was 1-of-31 schools to have baseball, men’s basketball and football make NCAA postseason in 2022-23.
  • The home football game vs. Oregon State witnessed a record 3.4 million viewers and was the first nationally-televised game on CBS since 1982.
    • The attendance for the game was 20,337, the most since Nov. 30, 2013 against Fresno State. 
  • Started Under Armour partnership which is one of the top Group of Five apparel deals in the country.
  • ​​For the first time in school history, football and men’s basketball qualified for the NCAA postseason in the same academic year; Football and men's basketball finished over .500 for the first time since 1986-87.
  • The cheer team finished first at the USA Collegiate Championships.
  • SJSU Athletics were 1-of-3 finalists for the 2023 PACnet Star Awards for Innovation of the Year along with TCU and Memphis.
  • Set attendance records and ticket revenue records for the football season.
  • Reached sponsorship record revenue over the course of the last year.
  • Football made its third bowl game over the last four years, including two straight, for the first time in program history.
  • The Spartans recorded their first top-100 finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Standings in nearly 30 years, second-highest finish in school history.
  • A school record 91 student-athletes were named to the Mountain West Scholar Team (3.5 GPA or higher) and over 40 student-athletes were President’s Scholars.
  • Men's Golf sophomore Xuan Luo qualified for the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.
  • Ajamu Reed and Cameron Tarver made the U20 USA Team in men's track and field.
  • SJSU Athletics had a school record 14 games televised on NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
  • SJSU Beach Volleyball found a home in the Southland Conference.
  • The athletics department became a Sports Video Group (SVG) Finalist for the second consecutive year for Most Outstanding Broadcast.
  • SJSU had five All-Americans, four conference player of of the year honorees, two head coaches were named Coach of the Year and 70 studnet-athletes garnered all-conference recognition .
  • Lucia Lopez Ortega finished NCAA runner-up in women’s golf and has over a 3.9 GPA in biochemistry.
  • Emilia Sjostrand became the first women’s track and field All-American with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and a seventh-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
  • Football’s Junior Fehoko was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2023 NFL Draft, while Elijah Cooks signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
  • Men's Soccer player Beau Leroux was a second-round draft pick in the Major League Soccer Draft by the San Jose Earthquakes.
  • Baseball’s Charles McAdoo was a 13th-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2023 MLB Draft.
  • Mountain West Player of the Year Omari Moore signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
  • Senior women's golfer Antonia Malate finished 20th at the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
  • San José State University selected as training facility for Bay FC (story here).

Conference Team Champions

  • Baseball - Mountain West regular season and tournament titles
  • Men’s Water Polo - West Coast Conference

Conference Individual Champions

Conference Player of the Year

Coach of the Year

All-American Honors

  • Women’s Golf -  Kajsa Arwefjäll, WGCA Second Team; Antonia Malate & Lucia Lopez WGCA Honorable Mention
  • Men's Water Polo - Bence Szabo named ACWPC All-America third team, while teammates Mateja Bosić and Brendon Gyapjas named honorable mention
  • Women’s Track & Field - Emilia Sjostrand - Outdoors - First team Long Jump, Second Team Triple Jump; Indoors - First team Triple Jump
  • Women’s Water Polo - Sina Plotz, Honorable Mention ACWPC All-America
  • Football - Kairee Robinson named Second Team HERO Sports Group of Five All-American
  • Men's Golfer Kris Stiles earned BCGCA All-American honors for second straight year

NCAA Championship Participants

  • Women’s Golf - Finished 16th at NCAA Championships
  • Lucia Lopez Ortega - NCAA Runner-up
  • Kajsa Arwefjäll - Finished 18th individually at the NCAA Championships
  • Baseball - NCAA Tournament appearance - first time since 2002
  • Men’s Water Polo - Advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 50 years

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

  • Emilia Sjostrand - First woman in SJSU history to compete at the meet, 7th in the triple jump & 11th in the long jump

Additional Postseason Appearances

  • Four women's gymnastics competitors qualified for the NCAA Los Angeles Regional in Lauren Macpherson, Jaudai Lopes, Emma Milne and Jada Mazury
  • Men’s Basketball - CBI - Won first postseason game in school history
  • Divers Jenna Jagielski and Emily San Jose qualified for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships
  • Men’s Golf - Caleb Shelter - NCAA Morgan Hill Individual Participant
  • Softball - NISC
  • A program-best 16 Spartans qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds for men's and women's track and field teams

Alumni

  • Recent SJSU graduate Natahsa Andrea Oon, 2022 Mountain West Player of the Year, earned her LPGA Tour card (story here).
    • Oon won the 2022 Mountain West Championship by 10 shots, earned medalist honors for the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional and finished NCAA runner-up to former World No. 1 Amateur Rose Zhang (currently on LPGA Tour).
  • Former men's basketball student-athlete Marc Spears (current basketball analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area games for SJSU) was the recipient of the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award (story here).
  • PGA Tour member and former SJSU golfer Mark Hubbard set a new tour record with 39 starts in 2022-23; Six top-10 finishes and 12 top-25 finishes, earning nearly $3 million.
  • Current women's soccer assistant coach Paige Simoneau earned a spot on the Mountain West's 25th Anniversary Team.
  • Junior Fehoko and Cade Hall were seelcted to the 25th Season Football Team.
  • Former men's golfer Vijay Srinivasan shoots 7-under 64 to qualify for first PGA Tour event at the Shriners Children's Open (story here).
  • Alum  Frank Ginda earned the USFL Defensive Player of the Year and signed an NFL contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
  • Cornerback Andre Chachere played in Super Bowl LVII with the Philadelphia Eagles.
  • Chicago Cubs announcer and SJSU alum Pat Hughes beacme the 47th recipient of the Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum (story here).

#AllSpartans